


Photo Finish

by Mihaelgayhl



Category: Death Note
Genre: A reboot of an old fic, Bondage, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, modelAU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-05-10 07:26:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5576650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mihaelgayhl/pseuds/Mihaelgayhl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reboot of the original. Mello is a model working for Misa, when he happens upon the new camera man shooting for his next piece. Someone who knows that the bravado Mello shows is all smoke and mirrors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Contract

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Photo Finish](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/165289) by Ambyrawrawr. 



> I've been considering rewriting this for a while and I finally decided to do it. Many of the aspects will have changed but key points will remain the same! However if you're new to this piece of work I hope you enjoy it as the new piece!

It wasn’t often that Misa booked less than four music video shoots in a week, the cost of the camera crew alone was enough to force her to compact everything into a short mayhem filled week, dancers with their feathers askew and makeup half done loitered all over the place, shooting side eyes at the lighting and camera crews who made their way past them, sometimes none too kindly and with too much elbow, to make their next mark.

Mello watched the hustle and bustle around him from a chair placed strategically next to Misa’s. He sipped at the bottle of water in his hand, waiting for the next song to begin. One had already been shot thanks to Misa’s keen attention to detail and making sure everyone stayed focused on their tasks at hand, not even being flustered by the slightly more erotic scenes she had shot minutes prior after all, as she reminded Mello who was to partner with her in those scenes, professionalism was everything. Mello shook his head to clear his mind of the previous shoot, mentally walking himself through the next one in preparation. It was supposed to be a bubbly song which meant lots of energy and more stretching prior to shooting than any human being should have to do.

“Mello.” Misa said, lightly tapping his arm and shaking him out of his thoughts.

“I thought I had another fifteen before you wanted me back? I’m not stretched yet Misa.” He replied, screwing the lid back onto the bottle of water, putting it next to the chair.

“I had something I wanted to talk to you about before you got busy again, hang on a moment. Light!” She called across the room to a smartly dressed man carrying a binder full of paper. He made his way over rifling through the binder, unclipping the rings and pulling out what looked to be a small novel.

“You know I didn’t sign up to dance to do paperwork Misa.” Mello said, rolling his eyes as Misa flapped her hands and told him to shush.

“You’ll like this I promise, it’ll really push you forwards, well your career at least.” Misa took the paperwork from Light and sorted through it until she found the page she was looking for, putting it into Mello’s hands. “My company have decided that for me to move forward I have to do more than sing, get some real merchandise out into the stores and well, we settled on a perfume. You should smell it Mell, it’s like bubblegum and fruit and just very me. But anyway, they also told me I could be in charge of the photography campaign, considering that’s part of my whole image, which includes choosing the model. I thought about it for a long time and honestly there’s no other choice than you, we look great together in pictures, well obviously me and Light look better, but he refused.” She stuck her tongue out at Light who let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s a two part product.” Light continued. “The female part and the male part. Misa will be the face of the perfume and you as the cologne, but we want to advertise them as a set. This would be the initial payment.” He handed Mello a slip of paper which Mello unfolded, eyes going wide at the number on it. The last time he had seen so many zeros was when he had accidentally fell asleep watching pay per view porn.

Mello turned the paper in his hand as the director called a five minute warning for the next video to start. It was an awful lot of money and considering his car was on its way out and his heating had broken down- he scrunched up the paper. “Fuck it, pass me a pen. I’ll sign.”

“That’s great news!” Misa said, hurriedly sliding a pen into Mello’s hand. “There’s one thing we didn’t mention, the shoot will be nude due to the nature of the cologne. Sex sells!”

“I-Nude, hang on!” Mello exclaimed as the freshly signed paper was taken from his grip by a rather smug Light who neatly put it back into his folder.

“So glad to have you onboard.” Light said as he walked back to the director to discuss some matters. Mello sat there in dumbfounded shock as the two minute warning was sounded. Nude shoot, he repeated to himself. _Nude shoot_.


	2. Chapter 2

The loud annoying bleeping and flashing of a phone, half dangling off the bed due to the taut charging cable stuffed in one end was far too much for Matt to comprehend at eight in the morning. In fact any time before noon was too early for Matt to be comprehending anything besides coffee, a cigarette and a piss. A hand crept out of the thick blanket and rummaged towards the incessant noise, picking it up and tugging so the cord detached and fell onto the carpet with a muffled clatter. Matt slid the buttons across the screen, pressing the phone to his ear, letting out a half smothered yawn.

“Hello.” He said, the gruff words cracking in his throat as he tried to clear away the sleep that remained lodged there.

“Good morning Matt.” Chirped Misa down the phone. “How are you this morning?”

“I was asleep thanks.” Matt replied snippily.

“Well that’s a waste, you know I’ve already been to the gym and had Light buy me coffee.”

“That’s great Misa, but it’s my day off so what do you want?” Matt could feel the beginnings of his irritation leaking into his voice, it was far too early to be peppy in his dark room which hadn’t seen the light of day in at least four days as he pulled shoot after shoot in succession. Rent had to be paid after all and as much as he wished for it to not be that way, he was forced to sell his labour in order to subsist in a constant state of cigarette smoke and mouldy takeout boxes.

“My photographer called in sick, flu or something and everything’s already booked! Matt I can’t throw all this money away the board of directors will never trust me again, please would you come and be my emergency photographer?”

Misa paused on the other end of the line expectant as Matt furrowed his brows. He desperately wanted to say no, cling to the last remnants of his day off and pretend he wasn’t about to say yes. Matt could hear her shuffling with worry as he pushed himself to sit up, letting out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But I want time and a half for this.”

“Yes of course, thank you Matt you’re a lifesaver!” She exclaimed before hurrying out the location, informing him that a taxi was already waiting for him outside the slightly dilapidated flat. Matt groped about the floor for his clothes, pulling on the first thing which he couldn’t smell from a foot in front of his face and stuffed a cigarette between his lips before grabbing the thickly padded cases that held his cameras. Matt made his way out of the flat to the shiny black car waiting for him batting away the driver’s hands when he offered to put the cases in the back, opting to keep them on his lap instead as the driver climbed into the front seat and turned the engine on.

It was mere minutes before Matt was at the studio and setting up his cameras, largely ignoring the people who walked past him with various other pieces of expensive looking equipment. He flipped over a page on the small binder that was shoved into his hands when he arrived, it depicted the kind of lighting and aims for the shoot which Matt was trying to prepare himself for. He fiddled with a few of the switches, changing his aperture up to a better setting to keep the background only mildly blurred. He wanted to create the illusion of mystery after all, particularly with the more erotic scenes Misa had requested. Matt looked up as a few of the models filed in from makeup, hair and skin done to near perfection with short robes stopping them from completely exposing themselves to the small crowd who had suddenly gone into overdrive to ensure everything was set.

Music began playing to help the models get in the right mind set as robes dropped to floor and positions were taken. Matt readjusted his tripod, angling a little lower to get a full body shot, he was fully aware that these particular photographs wouldn’t be advertised widely, except for the strategically covered ones, in fact according to Misa’s little handbook they would be released alongside the perfume/cologne as a thank you to her fans. Matt wasn’t surprised, she had been wanting to do an erotic photobook for years and this was the perfect opportunity to slip it under her managements nose under the guise of advertisement. He directed some of the models to move before finally putting down the paper cup of coffee which had long since gone cold and began to shoot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to keep the original going between characters each chapter, however I didn't give myself much to work with so I may combine some chapters at a later date!


	3. Chapter 3

Nude shoot. Those words rang over and over in Mello’s head as other models took their positions, robes dropped to the floor and kicked off to the side. Shaken out of his thoughts by the sudden abundance of naked skin Mello’s eyes drifted up the toned thighs and taut stomachs that surrounded him. Most of them looked like they’d be a little fun, for a while at least, before Mello got bored and moved onto the next thing that caught his eye for longer than five minutes before dropping it off in the morning with hurried goodbyes, promising a call that would never come and a mumbled lie of best night ever. It had become common practise for Mello, there was no longer a thrill of the chase, and he no longer needed pickup lines and a charming smile. Instead, thanks to his face being plastered everywhere, a simple nod and a hand sliding along the thigh was enough to secure someone for the night.

It was boring.

A young girl with a headset and clipboard made her way over to Mello, letting him know he was due on set. Mello stood and dropped the robe that was tied around his waist and walked over to the bed in the centre of the set, draping himself across it. He had seen Misa’s preliminary sketches and had a vague idea of what she wanted from the set but nothing more. Misa promised him that the photographer would know what she liked and how to position him, so please just listen to the photographer for once Mello please? Mello held in his sigh as Matt began to call out instructions to the assistants who strategically draped a silk sheet over Mello for the shots that would be made public.

“Put your arm above your head.” Matt instructed, Mello rolled his eyes and did as he was told, arching his back slightly and keeping his eyes focused on the camera. Matt snapped some photos, unphased as the shoot slowly became less about the perfume and more about how filthy they could be all while keeping it tasteful enough to use as advertisement. The last shot of the day involved Mello on his stomach with his wrists tied together with soft red rope, pinned above his head, black silk sheet pooled by his ankles as his legs were slightly spread. Time was called and Mello was untied, as Matt ran through the shots with Misa.

“You looked great Mello!” Misa called over, Mello gave her a dismissive wave of his hand as he pulled his robe on and disappeared into his changing room to find his clothes. Misa ran over the finalisation of the prints and when she would expect them before also walking off to let Matt dismantle and pack up his equipment.

“Need a hand?” A freshly dressed Mello asked, makeup wiped off his face and hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.

“No thanks I got it.” Matt replied, clicking the lens off his camera, safely tucking it into its box.

“That’s a shame, I was thinking the quicker you finished the quicker we could go get drinks or something.”

“I don’t drink.” Matt replied curtly. “Besides I’m not done working for the day. Some of us have more to do than stand around and pose for a living.”

Mello clicked his teeth. “There’s no need to be rude, I was only trying to be friendly. Fine, skip the drinks.” Mello sidled up behind Matt and pressed his chest to his back, hands inching their way over his chest. “Just come straight to mine and save me the hassle.”

Matt stuffed his tripod into the bag, wrenching himself from Mello’s hands. “No thank you.” He said, cheeks a startling red colour. “And don’t touch me again.” Matt grabbed his bags and hurried out to his car. Mello stared at his empty hands in confusion, the door that slammed shut behind Matt in his rush to leave still banging in his ears. He had never been denied, much less to such an extreme extent, never had he been told not to touch or had his hands psychically removed from what he wanted. The feeling of rejection swirled in his stomach like a sickening black sludge that oozed into every part of his body, thickened the saliva in his mouth with its bitter taste and made his hands burn with shame.

A smile crept its way onto Mello’s lips. The chase was on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this, I have been elbow deep in work and I had no time at all to write this up. But I did have a lot of fun writing this chapter, I think I'd rather stick to the short chapter format of the original, it makes it more fun and a little more of a challenge!


	4. Chapter 4

Matt sat in his car fingers flexing over the wheel, open and shut open and shut open and shut. His camera and equipment were piled haphazardly besides him, boxes threatening to topple at the slightest movement but for once the fear of his equipment being damaged was as far from Matt’s mind as possible as he continued to flex his fingers and bring his breathing back under control. He slumped back into his seat as the he released the breath he was holding, body limp as the tension faded out of his muscles and his jaw carefully unclenched.

Matt glanced at his own reflection in the rear view mirror. “You’re acting like a child.” He told himself. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had someone hit on him before, he still blushed when he remembered the time that Lucy Thompson asked him out as she stared at the ground and dug the tip of her shoe into the gravel, ears bright red in embarrassment as she stumbled over her words. This however was a whole new ballpark, he had never been asked out in such a forceful manner, never had someone press so close he could feel the warmth of their breath lick at his ear and the soft pads of their fingertips touch the goosebump laden skin on his arms. Matt’s stomach knotted uncomfortably for a moment as he remembered the scenario all over again, the knot turning into a heavy ball of lead as he glanced at the cameras and remembered he would have to edit those photos he took today. Matt fumbled in his jacket, pulling out a packet of cigarettes, quickly jamming one between his teeth with one hand as the other opened his window before quickly lighting it taking a long drag.

“Those things are going to kill you eventually.”

Matt jumped in his seat as Misa stood outside of his car door, a thick file of paperwork under her arms.

“That’s the plan.” Matt mumbled, more to himself than Misa, choosing to ignore the curt frown that she gave him. “Did I miss something?”

“Yes actually.” Misa replied pushing some of the paper through the gap in the window. “Release forms. Send them back when you can, preferably soon we don’t want another fiasco like last time, I don’t know if I could stop Light coming for your head if you do that again.”

Matt tittered, filing the papers away in his glovebox, it was one time he forgot to sign all the release forms. Misa was nearly sued by her competitors when they found out and the internet was up in arms about such a large company stealing a small time photographer’s work illegally.

“I’ll sign don’t worry.” Matt replied, blowing a stream of smoke out the window. Misa waved her hand in front of her face and nodded.

“Thank you and thanks for the hard work today, Mello really liked you, apparently you’re easy to work with. He wants to know if you’ll do the next shoot we have coming up-“

“-I’m fully booked up right now Misa.”

“-You’re fully booked that’s what I told him.” Misa let out an exasperated sigh. “I have some big projects coming up Matt you could get paid really well.”

“I don’t really need the money I’m fine as I am, I have rent covered.”

Misa folded her arms across her chest, eyebrows knitting together. “And what about your other bills and don’t tell me you have it saved back again matt cause last time you did that I got a call at 4am cause your water was cut off, even though you swore it was paid.”

Matt snickered to himself. “Look, I promise I have enough to get by. Maybe when I’m broke, try again.”

“Fine fine.” Misa said, walking off to meet Light who was sat in his own car. Matt threw his butt out the window and turned his key in the ignition, checking the rear view mirror once again to ensure the coast was clear.

A sleek black motorcycle was parked behind him with a young girl straddling the rear seat as she adjusted her helmet. Matt drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as he waited for her to move, humming out a small tune to himself, the flurry of fear that he felt from Mello completely gone.

In fact he barely noticed when Mello swung his leg onto the bike and revved the engine, or when his hand reached back to squeeze the girl’s thigh. Matt didn’t notice the tongue that was stuck out in his direction and he didn’t hear the excited gasp of the girl and Mello pulled her arms around his waist.

Yeah Matt didn’t notice anything at all.


	5. Chapter 5

For a year Matt managed to avoid Misa’s calls to work through a clever scheme of fraud, lying to utility companies and pretending not to be home when debt collectors came knocking. In his mind it was genius, being able to afford food thanks to a few photoshoots with other companies here and there but largely just ignoring the whirlpool of debt that was accumulating around him. However, it seemed like Misa took every possible opportunity to shove her work into his face, or rather, she was shoving her work into everyone’s face with constant ads that plagued the city’s billboards and ran as every other commercial on T.V., playing up her idol persona as if butter wouldn’t melt in mouth instead of the demanding workaholic Matt knew her to be. The man he had once photographed, Mello if he remembered correctly, accompanied her in these adverts. And her music videos. And as a spokesperson for her company. It was as if no matter Matt went, both Misa and Mello were following him, eyes glued to his back, trying to coerce him into another batch of work, which frankly he would rather put toothpicks under his toenails and kick a wall than agree to work for Misa again.

It wasn’t that Misa was bad to work for, in fact despite forcing Matt to work fairly hard for his pay she was a pretty relaxed boss and often treated her crew, making sure to show them how grateful she was for their help. However, the thought of having to work with that man again, Misa’s new favourite pet project, was enough to make his skin crawl. It was bad enough that Mello flirted with anything with a heartbeat or constantly preened himself, these things were annoying but forgivable. More than that, they were a necessity in the modelling world and while it was mind numbingly irritating to watch Mello fawn over himself it wasn’t that that caused Matt to look away in disgust. It was the cockiness that Matt hated, that and the ease he slept around with, as if it would never hinder his career if something personal was leaked to the tabloids about him. No instead, Mello did as he liked and sat around waiting for everything to come to him on a silver platter, ready for him to pick and choose what he wanted to do, never mind those around him who had struggled for years to keep their heads above water, Mello simply succeeded, made buoyant by a wealth of good connections and luck.

The eviction notice taped to Matt’s door fluttered in the soft breeze, allowing those who passed his home to notice his shame, Matt’s cheeks burned in embarrassment, quickly ripping the paper off the door with one hand as he fumbled with his keys in the other before finally unlocking his door and entering. The hum of exhausts and chatter grew quiet, Matt slumped to the floor, head thumping against his front door with a soft thunk as he looked over the eviction notice. Seventy two hours, that’s what it said at least. Seventy two hours to get out of arrears and pay the landlord back in full or he would lose everything. The thought of having to live out his car again made Matt feel sick, but nothing made his stomach churn as much as the sudden realisation of what he would have to do to get that kind of money that quickly. The sickening swirl of nausea in his stomach made him gag slightly as he pulled out his phone, he was sure that he could blag himself another month through checks bouncing and conveniently not being home when the landlord arrived to tell him so, however it seemed like that landlord had finally had enough of his bullshit, enough to get the courts involved at least. With that knowledge Matt pulled up his contact list, fingering hovering for a moment over the one contact guaranteed to accept work from him and pay a ridiculous amount for that privilege. The phone rang for a few moments the nausea in Matt’s stomach hitting its peak as he covered his mouth with his hand to force back down the contents of his stomach.

“Matt?” The voice on the other end of the phone sounded confused and happy at the same time, a gentle surprise that had been expected for a while now.

“Yeah.” He said, balling up the eviction notice, throwing it into the hallway. “Misa-“

“-You need work asap because you fell behind on your bills again didn’t you? Jesus Matt how are you ever going to _buy_ a house when you keep ruining your credit like this?”

“Honestly? I’m not thinking that far ahead. Come on Misa you must have something, anything will do, just, I need it now, as in right now, as in I’m already heading down to my car now.” Matt said, stuffing his arms back into his jacket hauling himself to his feet.

“I could just lend you the cash.” Misa replied, rolling her eyes at the large scoff that Matt let out.

“I’m not a charity case I can work for my money thank you.”

“It’s not about being a charity case it’s called friends helping friends out, just accept some help for a change Matt.”

Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “No. Look just because some people are happy to accept handouts and make their way through life relying on other people to pull them forwards doesn’t mean I am. So do you have work or not?”

Misa chose not to point out the hypocrisy in his own words, instead choosing to give him the location of her newest shoot. “You know the model right? Last guy you shot for me, Mello.”

Matt groaned inwardly, locking his front door as he hurried down to the pile of rust he claimed was a car. “Fine fine whatever, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Make sure everyone’s ready to go because once I’m setup I’m starting.”

“And you’re welcome for the job.” Misa replied sarcastically, hanging up the phone.

Matt hit his head once against the steering wheel before starting his car and peeling out of the carpark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about this piece of work a lot lately and after planning and replanning, I realised I wanted to take it in a slightly different direction than I did when I started it. So this is no longer a rewrite (While it still kind of is), key themes may be different, plot points will be different but it will still have minor similarities to the original. I know people were excited for a rewrite, but honestly I feel this is the best way to go, as I am no longer comfortable rewriting the original. I hope you can enjoy this now as a standalone piece with an homage to the original.


	6. Chapter 6

It was another gritty set that Matt had to photograph, chains, black leather and dark lace draped around a bed as Mello face fucked the camera and Matt tried his best to squash his growing frustrations at the casual way Mello spoke to him, as if they had been friends forever, laughing at inside jokes that hadn’t been made yet and calling pet names over to Matt when he wanted his attention.

The frustration fizzled under Matt’s skin, like a pissed off dog just before it snapped and mauled the person taunting it. Matt’s fingers gripped his camera tighter as Mello laughed alongside the female model he was working with. It made Matt’s stomach twist with a mild disgust, how many friends he had who had dropped out of a creative field simply due to the strong competition and lack of connections in the business which made it almost impossible to break through. Matt acknowledged that he was lucky to have met Misa in a bar and apparently, be interesting enough for her to take his card and promise a flip through of his latest portfolio. But that was simply luck, a component which people in any business need to make themselves successful, the rest he had gained through hard work and perseverance, even when he was living out of his car or taking to stealing cigarette butts out of bar ashtrays to get his nicotine fix. Matt had found himself fortunate enough to have made a name for himself, one which would provide whenever he needed and more often than not people came to him clamouring for his services rather than vice versa. As such he had been able to relax and indulge himself in the decadences which he had missed out on when he was struggling to find work, he could afford to nearly get evicted simply because he had put in enough hard work prior to make himself desirable.

And this is exactly why Mello irked Matt so much.

Despite the constant innuendos and accidental touches, Mello seemed to revel in the idea that this was his playground, as if he hadn’t had everything force fed to him by Misa and the stream of opportunities that were available to him weren’t simply because Misa worked double time to make sure they were there. To put it simply, Mello had never struggled. He had always gotten exactly what he wanted thanks to Misa, he hadn’t earned the right to goof around and waste studio time nor had he earned the right to bark at the staff like they owed him something when he had nothing to offer himself.

The shoot finished up and Matt began to pack his cameras away, shoulders tensing as a way too familiar arm looped itself around Matt’s shoulders.

“So are you joining for post shoot drinks? It’s on me.” Mello said, ignoring the look Matt gave him as he shrugged Mello’s arm off his shoulder.

“No thanks, I drove here.”

“Well we can get you a cab back, oh come on. Don’t be such a buzzkill.”

Matt collapsed his tripod as he thought, it had been a long time since he had been able to gout, relax and drink in a group, even if that group did contain _Mello_. However, the rest of the group was friendly faces that he knew from previous shoots, people who worked as hard as they could and made bets about finding the meaning in their lives at the bottom of a bottle of tequila.

“…Fine. Just let me drop my things home and then I’ll meet you. Get Misa to text me which bar you’re in.”

Mello looked surprised at Matt’s agreement but walked off to tell Misa the good news as Matt hauled his equipment down to his car and drove home to take a quick shower and change. Even Matt was aware that going to a bar in clothes that have been sweated in all day thank to the bright lights of a studio was probably a bad idea. Though the idea of his smell being so bad that people avoided him did cross his mind as a perk he quickly shook it out of his head as he dressed and headed back to his car, driving to the bar that Misa had text him ten minutes previously.

Matt slid into a semi crowded booth with a scotch in hand shortly after he parked, conversation was easily flowing and drinks were flowing even easier. Before long half of the group was slurring along to the music that gently blended into a hum of other tables talking to one another and the other half was taking shot after shot to see who would be the first person to lose the contents of their stomach. Matt joined in, keeping the drinking pace with relative ease as others knocked back their vodka shots and slowly became a smeary drunken mess.

“Surprised you can keep up Red.” Mello chided from across the table, half empty glass of rum and coke wobbling dangerously as he knocked it with his elbow in an attempt to lean closer.

“Surprised you haven’t puked and bailed.” Matt retorted taking another sip of his drink.

Mello smiled and gestured to the bartender. “Well then, lets see how many shots it’ll take to puke and bail. First one to lose has to answer any question the other says truthfully, deal?”

The warmth of the alcohol had long seeped into Matt’s head without him realising, making him stick out his hand with ease shaking Mello’s. “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh it's been so long since I've updated, comments and kudos are appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

The all too familiar sensation of nausea swirled in Matt’s stomach as he rested his forehead on the table. He was unsure how the room could be spinning with his eyes closed, but even so, he was still very much aware that the room was twisting and turning around him without his say so. The empty bottle of vodka clanked loudly against the table as Mello poured out the last few dribbles from the bottle into a sticky plastic shot glass.

Matt pulled himself back up, head lolling against the dirty faux leather booth and took a moment to refocus his eyes.” So….” He slurred. “Neither of us have bailed yet. Another bottle?” He proposed, trying to flag down the barmaid.

Mello knocked back the last dregs of the vodka and held back an involuntary gag. His eyes were glassy and his cheeks were flushed a deep red, the warmth of the alcohol spreading through his body until it reached the very tips of his burning ears. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea…” Mello said, trying to wipe away the sticky remnants of coke which he spilled down his chin earlier that evening and forgot to rub away.

“So, you’re chickening out? I win!”

Mello rolled his eyes. “No dumb shit, they probably won’t even serve us anymore. I’m drunk. You’re drunk. Get a clue.”

“I. Am. Not. Drunk.” Matt replied, punctuating his sentence with enthusiastic blows to the table, he grimaced as his hand touched the surface, tacky with alcohol. “Besides we have to keep drinking. There is a bet on here ya’know.”

“Why don’t you just flip a coin?” One of the accompanying makeup artists suggested, her breathing slightly laboured with the effort it took to keep herself upright and her mascara had slightly smeared down her face from the tears that ran while she was laughing and her eyeliner was beginning to flake off from her constantly rubbing her eyes. Tomorrow morning, she would curse herself for drinking when she caught herself in the mirror, it was always a bad idea, but for now-

“That’s a great idea Lisa!” Mello exclaimed, rooting around his pockets for any small change, dropping his keys and phone onto the table so he could shove his hand deeper into his pocket. Mello eventually managed to slap a shiny fifty pence piece onto the table. “Call it in the air Red.” He said as he lined the coin up with his thumb and flipped it into the air.

“Heads!” Matt called as Mello caught the coin, flipping it over onto the back of his hand only to reveal the coin, tails side up. Matt covered his face with his hands groaning in exasperation as Mello let out a drunken cheer along with the rest of the group at the table who joined in with the gentle ribbing at Matt’s expense.

The bell rang at the bar to signal last call, much to the bemusement of the group who quickly began rifling through their pockets for cash to get one last drink before heading out. Matt carefully hauled himself to his feet, holding his arms out in front of himself in an attempt to steady the room before wobbling out of the doors into a cloud of cigarette smoke from the group of people stood in a circle near the door, clutching a drink in one hand while ignoring their cigarette as it fizzled out in the other.  Matt coughed as he stumbled through the crowd, digging around in his jacket pocket for his car keys.

Mello caught his arm as he slid his keys into the lock. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Last call. Heading home before we get kicked out.”

“Driving? Are you kidding me Red? What you gunna do? Mow down a kid cause you couldn’t be bothered to get a taxi?” Mello said, yanking Matt’s keys out of his hands, quickly stuffing them into his own pockets out of Matt’s reach.

“It’s _Matt_ not _Red_.” Matt grumbled, swatting Mello’s hands away. “Give me my damn keys.”

“Not a chance in hell.” Mello replied, pulling out his phone. Matt stayed quiet for a moment while Mello booked a taxi, though he still held on tightly to his car door to stop the earth turning sideways and planting him on his ass. Mello hung up the phone and lent against Matt’s car. The night air was harsh against his overly warm skin, waiting for a taxi after drinking was always the most tedious part of the night but watching Matt wobble with, what Mello could only describe as a pout, on his face almost made it worth it. It was odd to see someone he only knew in a professional manner to act in such an undignified way but Mello couldn’t say that he didn’t enjoy it.

“You know- “He said, drawing Matt’s attention from the spot on the floor which had gained his complete attention. “I did win that bet. So, you owe me the complete and honest truth of any question that I ask.”

Matt’s eyes narrowed. “I guarantee any semblance of truth I’ll have you know.”

“Hmmmmm that sounds like cheater talk. You’re not a cheater are you Red?”

Matt huffed, “Not Red, _Matt_ , but no…I guess I’m not. Fine then. Ask your dumb question.” He stumbled over to the car which pulled up, sliding into the back seat while Mello climbed in from the other side. “But only one. After that I’ve done my part.”

The car hummed to life and pulled out of the carpark, Mello took a moment to give the drivers their addresses before leaning back into the warm leather seat. “Only one…Guess…I want to know what you think of me. Yeah, what do you think of me? Well, professional me. Not this-” He gestured to himself. “-Drunk version of me.”

Matt shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t think you want to know the answer to that.”

“Wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.” Mello countered. “I’m just curious. Jesus, I didn’t know it was that bad. Thought you liked my work.”

“I like Misa’s work.” Matt mumbled, turning to face out the window. The car grew quiet as Mello crinkled the twenty pound note he held in his hand to pay for the taxi ride. The driver cleared his throat to announce that they had arrived at Matt’s address.

“Thanks for the ride. I’ll pay you back tomorrow.” Matt said as he climbed out of the car, patting his pockets for his house keys as he walked to his door.

“Hey!” Mello yelled after him. “I expect an answer tomorrow!”

Mello flipped him off as he shoved his key into the door and stumbled inside. Tomorrow could wait, for now, he had to vomit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a million years since I updated this but I'm still working on it!


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